Night Circus
by Smaugtheterrible
Summary: Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth, for where else does every visitor have a specialized attraction just for them, what other place could possibly offer 7 nights of the untold wonder, mystery, and horror?
1. Chapter 1

_The Night Circus_

Sophia came to with a snorting gasp, she could feel the thin trickling stream of blood coming from her nose. Emma was looking at her, the concern on her features being tamped down rapidly.

"You okay Soph? You collapsed for a second there, why's your nose bleeding?"

Sophia placed a couple of fingers to her nose, before blowing out the blood and snot onto the floor. She had blacked out, and she knew why. Someone had triggered, and there was only one person that fit the bill to trigger right now, and she'd be dammed if that weak willed girl got to be a hero.

She ran out into the hallway, and then towards where Hebert would be, already withdrawing her phone, if Hebert was going to have a sort of violent outbursts, shed retreat after texting the PRT, slant the situation so that Hebert would be seen as the villain, but is she was to do that, that meant she would have to ensure the scene was clean.

She slid smoothly around the corner, and there in front of her was Heberts locker.

She couldn't help but blink, rather than even a ripped open locker, or a still closed one. Heberts locker had been left hanging open, completely empty, save for bloodstains, and a single black card, with red and white lettering upon it.

_The Holder of this card, and two of their friends, are entitled to an all areas experience, backstage pass to all of the Night Carnival_

Sophia picked up the card as she heard sirens incoming.

_Chapter 1 _

That day, across Brockton Bay, on door fronts, in mailboxes, on light poles, and on scattered leaflets thrown to the four winds, an invitation was sent.

_Starting tonight, and for one week only, we humbly invite the citizens of Brockton Bay to the Night Carnival, every night for seven nights, from sundown till sun up. There is an attraction for everyone, and everyone has something to gain._

And true to the message. That night, on the outskirts of town, seemingly out of nowhere arose a circus of black and red stripes. Faint streams of organ music rising up into the night sky as though in welcome, lights beginning to flick on as fires were lit in preparation for the nights… _festivities._

Not to mention, in preparation for welcoming the most welcomed of guests. The very important ones.

The performers readied themselves, the attractions spooled themselves up, the vendors dusted off their wares. While the ringmaster ran through their final presentation.

This performance, this week of nights, this week of endings would be one to remember. Every visitor would have their special attraction. Each visitor would have something to gain, and everything to lose.

So sayeth the Owner, so sayeth the Ring Master, so sayeth Queen Administrator.


	2. Night one, part one

_Night One_

The center ring. Empty and devoid of Shrouded in shadow, and then, with the blinding flash of the spotlight, there stood a tall figure in crimson velvet, and the band struck up, organ music piping in from the what seemed to be the air itself.

They, and they were a _they,_ stood in the center ring, with too many curves to be a man, but a lack of curves in other areas.

They wore a brilliantly red velvet tailed tuxedo, spotless white gloves, and what was strangest. A clean, unnaturally white mask, that lacked any features, it was smooth and unbroken, from crown to chin. The figure had short blond hair, and at the top of their head, at a slight, jaunty angle, was a black top hat, with a red band along its base.

And then with an elaborate, dramatic, over the top bow, the figure spoke.

"LADIES! GENTLMEN!"

The figures voice was genderless, and somehow appealing, almost magnetically so.

"FRIENDS! CHILDREN OF ALL AGES!"

The rose out of their bow, their arms held wide as though in welcome, and suddenly their voice was quiet and yet it had the same presence, as though she was whispering into everyone of the audience members ears, their tone almost conversational.

"I have been given the greatest honor, to act as the master of ceremonies for you this evening, my fine guests. And as the Ringmaster it gives me the greatest pleasure to welcome all of you to the Night Circus, and to its opening night here in your fair city. Tonight you will see acts that have never been seen in this, or any other city. For I promise you this, but every act is original, every act is a true one."

Suddenly the Ring Master leaned forward, as though whispering into the ear of a friend or lover.

" A word of warning however, my lovely guests. Here at the circus, there is indeed an attraction for one and all, but, in the end, the attractions here are the ones you need, not the ones you want, and sometimes, what you need is not always good for you."

The ringmaster bowed for another time, even lower than before.

"Now, for one final time, I welcome you my guests, on behalf of the performers, on behalf of the vendors, the staff, and most of all, from our beloved owner."

She rose up, doffing her hat in one grand gesture.

"My name is Aura! And I welcome you to the first evening of the Night Circus!"

_The Briefing_

Piggot sat at the end of a table filled with heroes, the heavy woman fingers interlaced her fingers. She barely stopped the inclination she had to glare down the table at the so called heroes who sat down at the table.

Bah, more like overgrown children with guns stapled to their hands. More literal than not in Militias case.

By their nature, parahumans were broken.

Hell, she was too, and yet, she had risen to being a regional director of the PRT, a women of unquestioned power. And in charge of the very things she hated. But by god, even if she was forced to work with them, then through blood, sweat, and more blood, because screw tears.

Piggot spoke to the assembled heroes, her expression puckered and white with irritation and stress.

"Attention folks. The circus is in town, as stereotypical as that might be. Now, we don't suspect them of anything yet, as of now its a courtesy and convenience check. With Shadow Stalker missing and the Circus arriving, its a matter of checking to see wether or not the Circus would have had anything to do with it. As of now we don't have any information on wether or not any of the Circus members are parahuman, we are going to send a small number of you in to investigate, be calm, be non-confrontational. If they are a group of enemy parahumans then we either don't want to piss them off, or if they are our enemies already, then we need information first before we confront them."

_Assault _

Assault, along with wife and partner in crime and justice Battery, approached the entrance to the fair, the pipe organ music floating through the air, and audible far before the carnival entrance came into view, a simple booth with a single entrance leading into the carnival proper.

The barker behind the counter simply smirked as they walked forward, and before either hero could say a word, the barker nodded their head and spoke, his voice carrying hints of an unknown accent that lent an air of mystery and excitement to his words.

"My oh my, no need to introduce yourselves, famous and talented heroes who have risked their lives again and again like yourselves need no introduction, Mr. Assault, Miss Battery, on behalf of the management, I would like to present you with two VIP tickets, on us."

With a flourish and a grand gesture or three, the barker suddenly had a pair of black cards with red and white lettering on them. Assault exchanged a glance with Battery who shrugged. Her face, from the years of experience Assault had with it, was torn, but in the end she shrugged. Assault turned back to barker and grabbed the tickets. The barker smiled again, this time his grin seemed just a little bit wider and longer than what seemed possible or natural.

"Those wonderful little tickets are also function to help you find your attraction, the closer you get, the hotter the ticket will feel."

_Scene Break_

After a while, with no obvious mater or tinker effects, and parades of happy, satisfied looking people, he and Battery had split, but now, his ticket was getting hotter and hotter, until finally it burst into actually burst into flames in front of a large tent, almost a building.

At its front their was a sign in painted mirrors,

'_The mirror maze_'

And in smaller letters underneath, this time in red,

_'__beware, sometimes the mirrors reflect more than just you'_

Assault snickered, it was obvious the carnival had some access to Tinkertech with the tickets, and they were trying to play up the whole 'haunted mystery' thing.

He walked into the massive tent, and as the dark shadows fell with the tent flaps, the lights on the inside lit up, light after light, illuminating the rows of mirrors in shadows.

At first, his wanderings through the maze were easy, but then, what seemed to be a clear path, became blocked by a transparent screen. More and more he found himself blocked, until he came to the end of a hall, mirrors to either side, and a mirror to his front. He sighed to himself, he was getting a little irritated, this was the sixth dead end he'd hit in half as many minutes. He heard a cough behind him, he suppressed a jump and turned around to see…

_Himself?_

Except different, but all too familiar. It was him, except in his Madcap costume. All black studded leathers, his grinning lower body mask and black eye shadow, his then customary throwing weights strapped to his waist, and his trademark black biker cap perched on his head at a jaunty angle, and just when Assault thought it couldn't get weirder, Madcap spoke, his voice gravely and raspy.

"What, you thought you'd seen the last of me?"


End file.
